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DRIVE35 is a decade-long (to 2035) UK industrial-policy programme announced by the Department for Business and Trade as part of the government's Industrial Strategy and Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan. It is structured as GBP 2 billion of capital investment available through 2030, plus GBP 500 million of R&D funding available through 2035, administered principally through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) via competitive funding streams: a Scale-up Fund (up to GBP 150 million for manufacturing-facility scale-up) and an Innovation Fund (up to GBP 33 million per strand for late-stage collaborative R&D and demonstration projects). The programme targets the full zero-emission-vehicle supply chain, from battery and component manufacturing to vehicle assembly, and is open to firms of all sizes, from start-ups to established global OEMs.
At launch, the government paired the programme announcement with over GBP 300 million in initial named-project support, most prominently GBP 100 million+ for Astemo Ltd's Bolton facility (EV component production, 220+ jobs) and GBP 15 million for Dana Incorporated's West Midlands site (EV parts production, 100+ jobs). This action documents the programme launch and initial funding tranche; individual competitive-round grants awarded under DRIVE35 (e.g. the October 2025 GBP 15m Toyota-led micromobility consortium grant, filed separately) are filed as their own actions rather than folded into this parent entry, consistent with the register's distinction between programme creation and individual disbursements under that programme.
Severity is set at 3 (mixed with the DM/mature-industrial-economy programme-creation band): GBP 2.5 billion is a substantial, multi-year sector-wide capital commitment — larger than a single named-project grant but smaller than economy-wide state-aid packages elsewhere in the register — and it establishes a standing funding architecture (Scale-up Fund, Innovation Fund) rather than a one-off disbursement.